Nobody's Perfect
by prettilocks478
Summary: Kayla is the mysterious new girl who just moved in across the street from the Toretto clan. Mia instantly likes her, but Dom is cautious. As time goes on, he becomes more intrigued by her but eventually learns that she is running from something. She too begins to fall for Dom but is reluctant to let herself go there because of her own issues. Can she let go and fall in love?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was another beautiful summer morning in L A. The breeze slightly wisped Mia's long brunette hair into her face as she sipped her morning coffee out on the patio. As she combed it back into place with her fingers, she noticed a girl taking a box into the old Ridgely house across the street. The Ridgelys had moved ages ago and their house had been vacant ever since. The girl was tall and pretty. She was wearing a tank top with a pair of shorts that showed off the longest pair of legs Mia had ever seen.

"Who's that?" Leon asked peering over his sun glasses.

"Holy shit Leon," Mia said clutching her chest, "you scared the crap outta me,"

"Sorry," he mumbled plopping down in the seat across from Mia

"I don't know who she is," "looks like she's just moving in,"

"She's cute," he muttered scoffing down hotcakes and eggs.

Mia always made a point to cook for them on Sundays. Since Letty left, she was the only girl. She had taken on sort of a motherly role to the boys.

Leon pulled his cell phone out of his pocket to get a glance at the time.

"Oh shit," he said "I gotta go,"

"Where you off to?"

"I got a lunch date with Kia," he smiled

"Kia with the big-"Mia smiled

"Yep Kia with the big-"Leon smiled

"Leon you just ate," she giggled

"You know I got a high metabolism girl," he got up from the table and stretched his arms towards the sky, "I'm always hungry,"

"Well I'm gonna go over and introduce myself to our new neighbor," Mia said as she rose from the table clearing her and Leon's dishes, "maybe see if she needs some help,"

"Why?"

"Cause it's the neighborly thing to do Leon," Mia rolled her eyes as she walked back into the house

"Oh yeah…right," "you want me to come?"

"No…I don't want you hounding the poor girl before she's even had a chance to settle in,"

"Whatever," he smirked waving his hand as he walked pass Mia toward the direction of the front door, "later,"

"Later," she yelled back.

Mia washed her cup and Leon's plate and fork. Then she headed across the street to the new neighbor's.


	2. Chapter 2

Mia walks over to the car where she sees the new girl still unloading boxes.

"Need a hand?"

Kayla almost jumped out of her skin.

"I'm Mia," Mia smiled and extended her hand. It seemed like she held her hand there for ages waiting for a response.

"Kayla," she reluctantly smiled back barely shaking Mia's hand

"I didn't mean to startle you," Mia said gesturing towards the boxes, "you just looked like you could use some help,"

"Oh…well that's sweet of you…but I'm fine,"

"you sure?" Mia asked

"yeah," the girl said half smiling, "besides I'm almost done,"

"Ok," Mia stood there watching the girl take things out of her car and put them on the curb. For some reason she thought this girl would be friendlier. She saw this going differently in her head.

"Well if you ever need anything I live across the way at 3307…the house with all the race cars…can't miss it,"

"Ok thanks," Kayla said barely looking up at Mia as she continued taking things out of her car.

"That was weird," Mia mumbled as she turned and walked back across the street.

_Later that week…_

There was a McDonalds about a mile from Kayla's new house. She had been eating there all week because she didn't know where anything else was. She decided that today she would venture past the McDonalds and explore. If she ate one more double cheeseburger she thought she would literally throw up. A half mile past the McDonalds, she noticed a small grocery store to her right.

"Anything's better than McDonalds at this point," she muttered to herself as she pulled into the small lot in front of the store.

As she got out of the car and walked towards the store, she noticed the front of it looked like a deli counter and right beside the store was a mechanics garage.

As she walked into the grocery store, she didn't see anyone.

"Hello?" she called out

She was starving and decided to wait. But after ten minutes of just sitting there on the stool, she got up and wondered over to the garage. This place seemed to be deserted too.

"Hello?" she called out again and there was no reply, "Geez…does anyone work around here?"

She noticed a really old charger towards the back of the garage. She wondered back to get a look at it.

"Wow," she whispered to herself

Just as she slid her hand over its black shiny surface, a booming voice from behind her nearly made her wet her pants.

"Who are you?" asked the deep voice

She turned around to see a large, bald muscular man standing over her. If she had to judge from the look on his face, she guessed he was going to kill her in the next few minutes.

"I'm sorry," she said removing her hands from the car, "I was just um…"

The large man folded his arms and stood there waiting for her explanation.

"I was actually looking for the person who works in the grocer next door," "Do you know them?"

"I do actually," the man said in a deep gravelly voice. She didn't know if she should be turned on or scared of it.

He walked to a door in front of the garage and yelled, "MIA!" "You got a customer,"

As she watched the slender pretty girl with long dark hair walk into the room she realized it was her neighbor.


	3. Chapter 3

Mia tied her apron on and asked "how can I help you?" without even looking up at her.

"Hey Mia,"

Mia looked up and realized it was her new neighbor.

"Oh hey…it's you," she shot the girl a half smile. "Kayla…right?"

"yep," "so you work here?"

"Well…sort of," Mia answered. My family owns the store and the garage."

"cool,"

"yeah… **MY BROTHER'S SUPPOSED TO BE HIRING SOME HELP**," she yelled louder on purpose so Dom could hear her. "I fill in mostly in the summer when school's out."

Dom shot her a cold glare from the window in the other room then sat down and started reading over some papers.

"So the big scary guy's your brother?" Kayla whispered.

"Yeah…don't let his exterior fool you though…he's really harmless,"

Kayla's eyes roamed Dom's muscular arms and then rested on his chest.

"If you say so," she giggled, "so what's good here?"

"Not the tuna,"

Kayla turned to see that the voice belonged to a tall, blue-eyed cutie with curly blonde hair.

"Shut up Brian," Mia yelled playfully throwing a towel at the guy.

He walked toward the counter, leaned over and grabbed Mia's apron pulling her close to him. They shared a tender kiss that Kayla swore lasted a whole minute.

"I missed those," the guy mumbled into Mia's mouth

"Dom!" the guy yelled as he walked into the back room where the big scary guy was.

"That's my boyfriend Brian," Mia said as she unsuccessfully tried to hide her blushing

"He's cute," Kayla smiled

"I know…isn't he?" Mia smiled back, "oh yeah…you were asking about what's good here…"

"Yeah…well I guess the tuna's out," Kayla giggled

"yeah…apparently that's not a crowd pleaser," Mia laughed

"Ummm…the turkey sandwich and homemade chips are my favorite…it comes with a pickle," Mia shrugged.

"Turkey sandwich it is," Kayla shrugged

"Coming right up," Mia turned and started making her sandwich

There was a moment of silence that seemed like an eternity to Kayla. She finally decided to break it.

"So the other day was really weird," "I'm sorry for not being more cordial,"

"Oh don't worry about it," Mia waved her hand as if to say forget about it.

"I just had so much on my mind and so much to do…"

"Kayla it's fine…really," Mia cut her off, "I know how frustrating moving can be,"

"So how long have you and Brian been together?"

"Ummm…about two years now," Mia smiled

"Where'd you guys meet?"

"At the races," "he used to be a cop and he was trying to bust my brother…it's a long story,"

"ok," Kayla said looking confused

"Anyway," Mia said changing the subject, "what's your story?"

"Well…uh…I don't have much of a story," "I was tired of my old town so I started looking for other job opportunities online just to see what was out there,"

Mia handed her the plate of food. Kayla took a bite of the sandwich.

"This is phenomenal," she mumbled with a mouth full, "I applied for a job at University Hospital and they called for an interview." "Next thing you know I was packing up my car and headed here."

"So where's your old town?" Mia asked

"Queen Creek Arizona,"

"Queen Creek?" Mia frowned, "I've never heard of that town?"

"Yeah…most people haven't," Kayla grinned, "it's pretty small,"

"Wow…so moving to LA from a small town," "that must be a bit of a change huh?"

"Oh yeah," Kayla laughed, "I kinda like this though," "back home everybody knew everybody…and everybody knew your business," "it's kinda nice to be a little mysterious…ya know"

Mia smiled. She couldn't help but feel that last comment meant something more but she didn't want to pry.

Dom and Brian came out of the back room still talking car stuff.

"Dom I'm telling you that new exhaust is gonna get me your title dude," Brian said with the widest smile

"**My **title?" Dom asked pointing at his chest, "Dude it was never about your exhaust,"

"What's it about then?" Brian asked with a smirk on his face

"It's about your lack of skill," Dom grinned

"Aw dude," Brian hit Dom in the chest playfully as they both burst into laughter

"This is the type of shit I have to listen to all day," Mia said lowly

"My condolences," Kayla laughed

She pulled her cell phone out and noticed it was almost 1:30.

"Shit," she said rising up from the stool, "I gotta get ready for work,"

"Oh ok," Mia said taking her plate, "well you know where I am if you ever wanna hang out,"

"ok cool," she grabbed her purse and walked toward the door, "oh shit…I'm sorry I forgot to pay,"

She reached into her pocket for some cash but Mia insisted that she didn't have to.

"On the house," Mia said

"Oh no…I couldn't," Kayla said, "I'd feel bad,"

"Don't be silly," Mia said, "it's my way of saying 'Welcome to the neighborhood,"

Dom stood leaning against the wall listening as Mia and Kayla went back and forth. He was going to chew Mia out when this girl left. How could they ever make money if she was always giving food away for free? But he had to admit that she was stunningly beautiful and he couldn't help staring at her legs. He suddenly realized that she noticed him taking her in and he changed the direction of his gaze towards the garage.

"Thanks so much," Kayla said as she headed out and got in her car.

"Mia I know you want this girl to be your bff and everything but you can't just give away our food,"

"Are you serious Dom?" Mia asked, "It's not like I'm gonna do it all the time,"

"I beg to differ Mia," "what if you and this girl become really good friends?" "then she's gonna come in here never expecting to pay for anything, right?"

"Dom," Mia sighed, "I think you're being a little dramatic,"

"Ok," Dom said calmly, "call it whatever, but you can't trust everybody Mia," "and stop giving our food away,"

He walked back into the office and shut the door.

"Jesus," Mia whispered

Brian came over and pulled her into his arms.

"You know that wasn't about you right?" "He has trust issues when it comes to new people,"

"Because of you," Mia giggled

"Yeah," Brian smiled, "because of me"


	4. Chapter 4

_**Saturday night at The Races**_

As Dom sat in his car listening to the engine roar, he caught a glance of Mia's new friend over on the sidelines. After some serious begging, Mia had convinced her to come hang out with the gang. There she sat, posted up on Mia's car beside Mia. A part of Dom wanted to shun this girl because he did have some serious trust issues after what happened with Brian. But the other part of him, the part that was mannish and animalistic, wanted to pick her up, throw her down and make love to her. He couldn't deny she was beautiful. As she sat on top of Mia's car, her long lean legs were like magnets for his eyes. The sound of Hector counting down brought him back to reality.

Dom started off slow as he sometimes does. He knows he can easily win the race against tonight's racers, but most nights he feels he has an obligation to make it interesting for the bystanders. He doesn't pick up speed until a quarter mile away from the finish line when one of the racers gets a little too far out in front for his comfort. When everyone crosses the finish line, Dom gets out of his car with his mind on collecting his prize money. But it wouldn't be a Saturday night at the races if he didn't have to walk through a sea of groupies after winning a race.

"Amazing as always big bro," Mia makes her way through the Dominic groupies to give her brother a hug. Holding Kayla's hand, Mia leads her through the crowd.

"Thanks sis," Dom smiles

"Did you like the race?" he asks Kayla

"yeah," Kayla blushes, "that was incredible,"

"So you gonna come hang out at the house for a while?"

"what's at your house?" Kayla asked

"drinks, food…everybody always goes there after the races," Dom shrugged, "it's like the unofficial after party,"

"oh I don't know," "I wanted to get up early,"

"what you got something going on tomorrow?" Dom was trying his best to not seem like he was prying.

"well…I wanted to go shop for some curtains,"

Dom couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Oh yeah you're right…a party _**and**_ curtain shopping," "we wouldn't want you to have too much fun in one week,"

Kayla laughed herself once she realized how ridiculous it sounded.

"ok ok," she smiled, "I'll come hang out for a little while,"

"cool…come ride with me," Dom smiled

"what about Mia?"

"she knows the way home,"

His smile got even wider as he motioned for her to follow him.

He opened and closed the car door for her. This pleasantly surprised her. In this day and age, she was almost certain that chivalry was dead. One of the more persistent Dominic groupies made her way over to his car again. She was saying something about him never calling her. He gave her a line about losing her number and took it again before getting in the car.

"guess you're pretty popular with the ladies,"

"it's not what it seems like," Dom said putting the key in the ignition

"really?"

"they don't care about Dominic Toretto," he said "they just wanna be with the guy who's winning,"

When the engine started, Kayla felt a rumbling that sent vibrations through her body. Seeing Dom inside this thing was hot. But being in it sitting next to him really turned her on. He reached over her and for a second she didn't know what he was doing. The closeness was intense. She could smell a faint hint of some cologne and she caught an up close glance at the contours of his arm muscles. She felt silly once she realized he was just fastening her seat belt.

"safety first," he said looking at her with those eyes before he peeled off onto the street

"So tell me about yourself Kayla,"

"what do you wanna know?"

"anything," Dom said looking straight at the road

"there's not much to tell," Kayla spoke lowly staring out of her window

"ok," Dom replied not willing to give up so easy, "what's your family like?"

"I don't have much family," "just me, my mom and my brother,"

"ok…are you Mexican?"

"no," she smiled faintly, "my mom is Indian…my dad is black…I never knew him though,"

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to…"

"that's ok," she cut Dom off, "I get it all the time,"

"so you just decided to up and move here alone out of the blue?"

"yep," "I needed a change of scenery I guess,"

"one thing I know is that no one moves to a strange new town alone unless they're running from something or they have some type of agenda,"

"agenda?" "what are you getting at Dom?"

Dom slowed down and came to a stop for the red light they were approaching.

"You want me to just come out and ask?"

"Ask what?" she looked at him frowning her face.

The light turned green and Dom peeled off so fast that Kayla's head slammed against the headrest. She looked over at Dom again and his face was stern and concentrating on the road. He seemed to gain speed with each passing second. Kayla braced herself with a hand on the dashboard and a hand clutching the side of her seat. She couldn't see the speedometer, but she knew Dom had to be doing at least 100 on a city street. She was scared shitless! But she never asked him to slow down.

"Are you a cop Kayla?" asked a straight faced Dom as if nothing was wrong

"WHAT?!" Kayla screamed

"Are you a cop?"

"Are you crazy?!" she yelled, "No I'm not a cop Dom,"

He maintained speed for another 30 seconds then he slowed down. Once he came to another red light, Kayla unfastened her seat belt and got out.

"What are you doing?" Dom asked

"I'm walking!" Kayla yelled

"come on," Dom giggled, "I'm sorry…get in the car,"

"you think that's funny?"

"no…it's not funny," Dom was trying to keep a straight face, "I'm sorry…come on get in,"

"no," Kayla said walking with her arms folded alongside the car

"Kayla please," Dom sighed, "it's late and this isn't the safest part of town,"

"I'll take my chances,"

"ok but you don't know the way home,"

She thought about that for a minute because he was right. She decided that she would get back in the car but that she didn't have to be nice to him.

He reached over her again and she pushed his hand away.

"I can do it," she said fastening her seat belt and then folding her arms.

Dom didn't know what to say. So they rode the rest of the way in silence.


End file.
